Latex Blues
by That Nanda
Summary: Inuyasha finds something strange in one of Kagome's drawers. Hilarity ensues. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Latex Blues 

"What the hell is this?" Inuyasha mused, pulling the small blue box from underneath a pair of pink, silky panties in Kagome's underwear drawer. Kagome blinked and looked up from her chemistry homework. When she saw what Inuyasha was holding, she turned a mortified shade of crimson. Why the hell had she kept those?! 

Two nights ago, she had gone to a slumber party at her friend Yuka's house. As with most slumber parties, the girls had ended up playing Truth or Dare. As the game progressed, and as the other girls repeatedly picked "Truth", Kagome had become nervous. If she picked "Truth", what sort of questions would they ask her? She looked around Yuka's bubblegum-pink bedroom at her so-called friends. She pictured Ayumi, her voice poisonously sweet, asking "So Kagome, tell us the Truth….Why have you missed so much school lately?" Then what would she do? She was a lousy liar, always stammering and blushing when she tried to keep things hidden from her friends. But she could never tell them the truth! For one thing, they would never believe her! They would think she had lost her mind! Or worse, what if they asked her why she wouldn't go out with Houjou? They already teased her about having a secret boyfriend. How would she explain Inuyasha to them? Even if she left out the part about him being a hanyou… Kagome abruptly ended that train of thought. She couldn't even admit her feelings for Inuyasha to herself, let alone a room full of gossipy teenage girls. Gods, what was she going to do? 

It was Eri who had finally ended the suspense. "SOOOO…. Kagome-chan" she drawled out, barely stifling a giggle of anticipation, "Who's this mystery ma-"

"DARE!" Kagome cried, before Eri could finish the question. 

"Rats." Eri muttered, disappointed.

"You sure have been secretive lately, Higurashi." complained Ayumi. "I wonder what you're hiding from your dearest friends…" 

"Well, no matter!" chirped Eri. "Even though you know we're all DYING to hear about the guy who's so great that he keeps turning your head from Houjou," at this, she and the other girls let out a collective sigh, "Since you picked Dare, we're going to make this one a doozie!"

"Yeah, and maybe you'll think better of it next time!" laughed Yuka. Kagome's lovely gray eyes widened at this. She gulped, but said nothing.

Ten minutes later, the girls were standing outside of the drug store around the corner from Yuka's house.

"Alright Kagome-chan" Eri said, practically taunting, "Here we are. Remember, you have ten minutes to return with the, um… specific item…" At that, the other girls began to giggle madly. 

"SHHH!"

"…gomen…" Once they had regained composure, Eri began again. 

"If you chicken out, or take longer than ten minutes, then you forfeit the Dare and will have to answer a penalty question of our choosing." The three girls exchanged knowing smiles before turning to Kagome, who looked like she wanted to crawl under the nearest rock. Ayumi looked at her wrist watch for a moment, then cried "Ready? GO!"

Kagome stood unmoving, seemingly rooted to her spot on the sidewalk. Precious seconds ticked by as she gathered her resolve, then ran headlong into the drugstore.

"Remember, EXTRA LARGE!" Eri called after her. Mercifully, the door swung closed behind her, cutting off their insane laughter. 

She was greeted by a blast of cold, heavily perfumed air conditioning in her face. After taking a moment to adjust her eyes to the fluorescent lighting, she scanned the banners at the top of each aisle. Straightening her shoulders and trying to look older in the process, she began to march pointedly toward the aisle marked "Personal Care." She attempted, poorly, to look nonchalant as she walked down the aisle, quickly scanning the shelves, searching for what she needed to evade her friends' eager curiosity. Hmmm…tampons…incontinence briefs…pregnancy tests…. 

Eep! There they were. She said a silent prayer of thanks to the Gods that at least they hadn't been back behind the counter, where she would've had to ask for them personally. As it was, she wasn't sure how she would muster up the nerve to actually bring them up to the register and pay for them, but first things first. Ok, let's see… regular, regular, extra sensitive…Bingo! Extra large. She had just reached out a shaky hand to grab the package, when a familiar voice calling her by name made her drop her hand and spin around. 

"Houjou-kun!" she squeaked, turning crimson, "W-what…" she managed to eek out before she became too flustered to speak. 

"Konbanwa, Higurashi! I work here on the weekends now," he said with a shy grin. "I see your friend Yuka and her family in here all the time. I'm kind of surprised she never told you. I tell her to say "Hi" to you all the time!" Realization suddenly hit Kagome right between the eyes. Yuka! She had known that Houjou was going to be there! _Oh, that's it! She is going to get it!_ Kagome screamed in her head. Houjou watched this internal struggled with confused concern. _Kagome is always so sick,_ he thought. _Maybe she's having a seizure? _

"C-can I help you find anything?" he asked, hesitantly, not wanting to disturb her if indeed she was having a blackout of some kind. Kagome stared at him blankly for a moment, then smiled nervously.

"Uh, n-no, I was just about to buy this…" her hand fumbled behind her, then brought up the first solid thing it landed on. It was a home pregnancy test. Houjou's eyes widened in surprise, but he politely said nothing. 

"NO!" Kagome yelped, tossing the kit back onto the self as if it were a poisonous snake, "NOT THAT! Uhh…, this!" she cried triumphantly, holding a bottle of Senior-Care Multivitamins above her head. 

"Um, I have a v-vitamin deficiency?"…she lied, blushing and stammering as usual. 

__

Oh, maybe that explains the staring! Houjou thought to himself, but again he said nothing, just smiled. Kagome smiled back, thinking, _How the Hell am I going to get rid of this guy? _when suddenly she had a flash of inspiration. 

"Hey, Houjou-kun," she said brightly, "Do you think that there might be a bigger bottle in the back of the store? You know, in the stockroom? I could really use a bigger bottle…" Houjou flashed a huge smile at her. 

"Of course Higurashi! I'll go see if we have any!" He practically ran toward the doors at the back of the pharmacy that lead to the stockroom. Once he was out of sight, Kagome grabbed what she had come for and booked it to the register, no longer caring what the cashier thought about her purchase. The cashier was just handing them to her, hidden safely within a plastic bag, when Houjou came around the corner with the bottle of pills. 

"Here you are!" he called happily "I found you the bigger size!"

"Um, thank you anyway, but I decided to go with the smaller size! Sayounara!" she called over her shoulder as she ran out the door. Houjou stood waving, confused again, then turned around to return the bottle to the back room. The heavy-set, middle aged woman at the register chuckled to herself incredulously. _Gods! _she thought,_ The Bigger size? I didn't know they came any bigger than extra large. I'd love to meet her boyfriend…_

Breathless, Kagome ran out into the night air just as Ayumi was counting down "…three, two, one…"

"You _just_ made it!" Eri laughed. "Well, let's see 'em."

"Here!" Kagome spat out, throwing the bag to Yuka. The three girls huddled together, then silently opened the bag. Their eyes widened when they saw the bag's contents, and they smiled at Kagome. 

"WOW, Higurashi!"

"You have some serious guts, Kagome-chan!"

"Gods! I never would have been able to do that!"

"Ok, Kagome-chan, after that amazing display, I declare you the winner now and forever! Let's go home, have some ice cream and watch a Jackie Chan movie." They had begun to walk in the direction of Yuka's house, when Kagome sang out softly…

"Oooooh Yuka-chan, I just remembered! I saw Houjou-kun while I was in the pharmacy."

"Y-you did? What a surprise….heh heh…"

"Yes. He saw me at the counter and asked me what I needed _those _for." she said, inclining her head slightly towards the bag in Yuka's hand. The other three girls inhaled sharply and audibly. 

"HE DID? What did you say!!" 

"Oh, I told the truth! I said, 'My friend Yuka 's waiting outside. I need to get them to her in ten minutes. I guess she really needs them in a hurry!'" Kagome laughed aloud as she dodged the now infamous bag that was hurled at her head. She caught it gracefully, then ran all the way to Yuka's house, with her angry friend at her heels the entire way. 

When she had returned home the next day, she had found the box in her backpack with a note taped to it. It read _You bought and paid for these, so you should keep them. Maybe they'll fit your Mystery man. Be sure to let me know! Love, Eri _

Kagome sighed, staring down at the box in her hand. She couldn't throw them away in the trash, lest her mother should discover them, so she buried them in her underwear drawer until such a time that she could conveniently dispose of them. 

Which brought her back to the situation at hand. Or rather, the box of extra large condoms in Inuyasha's hand.

"Put those down!" she yelled, realizing an instant later that her outburst had been a mistake. Inuyasha's golden eyes widened, and smirk stretched across his already smug face. Now he would have to know what they were, if only to see her squirm a bit. Desperate, Kagome quickly changed tactics. 

"What are you doing in my underwear drawer anyway, hentai?!" Now it was Inuyasha's turn to change color. Truthfully, he had only been attracted to the drawer because it had smelled strongly and provocatively of Kagome's scent. He hadn't meant to be a pervert or anything, but his instincts would not allow him to simply sit quietly on her bed watching TV without investigating the source of that alluring aroma. It had been driving him crazy, tantalizing him with curious thoughts of what it could be, so he had decided to see for himself. Of course, he would never dream of telling her that, so her question had caught him off guard and he didn't have an answer ready. Kagome continued to stare at him angrily, seemingly waiting for a response, though really waiting to see if the distraction tactic had worked. One of his hands shot up to the back of his head where it nervously began to scratch. The other hand, the one holding the box, dropped to his side as he turned his embarrassed gaze away from her. Kagome didn't waste a second. Her hand shot out and swiped the box from Inuyasha's hand before he had time to notice what she was doing and react. 


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

"Gimme that!" Inuyasha cried, as Kagome made a break for the door. Trying to slow her down, he leapt forward and grabbed the back of her blouse. His claws pierced the fabric and there was a sickening _RIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP…!_ as he drew back a fist full of yellow cotton. Kagome stopped dead in her tracks, then slowly turned around to face him. 

"Why you…you…" she seethed, too furious to come up with anything wittier. Inuyasha looked guiltily at the scrap of fabric in his hand that had been the back of her blouse, then remembered himself. 

"Don't try to blame me!" he snorted, nose in the air as he folded his arms over his chest. "If you had just told me what was in the box, you'd still be wearing a whole shirt!" A low rumbling sound emanating from Kagome's direction caught the attention of his keen ears, causing them to twitch uncomfortably. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stiffened in response. Beginning to realize what the sound was, he nervously dropped his gaze to meet hers. Anger seemed to be radiating off of her like a blood-red aura. Kagome was growling. 

__

OH SHIT! HERE IT COMES! his mind screamed, but all that escaped his lips was "…buh…" before instinct took over. Panicking, he lunged at her, trying to stop the word before it passed her lips. Kagome saw him come flying towards her, but she had little room in which to maneuver. Desperately trying to stop him, she yelled out "Osuwari!", but she was too slow. Inuyasha collided with her just as the word had left her mouth. The spell slammed him to the ground, and she was pulled down underneath him. The spell that she normally used to keep him in line now had effectively pinned them both to the ground, and in a position that, under different circumstances, would have been cause for racing pulses and flushed cheeks. This, unfortunately, was not that occasion. Under these particular circumstances, Kagome and Inuyasha stared angrily at each other, nose to nose, teeth bared. 

"ERRRRGH! GET OFF!" Kagome yelled.

"HA! NOW YOU SEE HOW IT FEELS!" He countered, breathing hot, youkai breath in her face. His weight was constricting her lungs, and she began to breath shallowly. 

"You weigh a ton!" she gasped.

"Yeah, well, thanks to you there's nothing I can do about that!" he growled. 

"Your hair is tickling my nose!" She tried to blow his hair back away from her face, but there was too much of it. 

"Cut it out!" he growled, but he shook his silver mane in a vain attempt to remove it from her face. Seconds passed, and the spell began to wear off. Kagome felt the pressure on her lungs ease as Inuyasha lifted himself up onto his palms. His lower half, however, remained straddled across her hips. Giving her an evil grin, he sat back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest, never breaking eye contact. "Now." he said, emphasizing each word slowly and deliberately, "Give Me The Box." 

Kagome squirmed beneath him, trying to roll herself over. Inuyasha leaned forward and grabbed both of her wrists in one hand, pinning them to the ground. His other hand quickly reached up to grab the box from her flailing fingers. Before he could reach it, however, Kagome flicked her wrist and sent the box sliding underneath her bed. Inuyasha leapt off of her, turning in midair, and landed hard on top of the bed. The mattress springs groaned in protest of such abuse. He was perched upside down, looking underneath when Kagome cried out "Osuwari!" Inuyasha was flipped, head over heels, and came crashing down onto the bedroom floor. 

"Bitch…" he breathed painfully as he struggled against the incantation. With a satisfied smile, Kagome got down on all fours and retrieved the box out from under the bed. 

"Nice underwear!" he chuckled, a nasty expression on his face. His position on the floor had allowed him to see right up her skirt. Kagome jumped up, looked down at Inuyasha, and stuck her tongue out at him. On her way to the dresser she stomped on his fingers. 

"You should know, hentai!" she huffed, "You've been spending enough time in my underwear drawer!" That said, she tossed the box into the drawer and slammed it closed. "Now stay out, or I'll 'you-know-what' you back to your own time!"

"Feh," Inuyasha muttered, finally sitting up. "Like I care what you keep in your stupid drawers!" Kagome blinked at him, eyes wide. "Um, I mean, that is…" he stammered, raising his hands defensively in front of his face, . 

"OSUWARI!!"

Much later, Inuyasha watched through slitted eyes as Kagome fell asleep in the middle of her math book. Finally! He had been pretending to sleep for hours! As silently as he could, almost inaudible to the human ear, he crept up to the dresser and grabbed the silver drawer handle. It gave a high pitched squeak as it opened, and his breath hissed inward at the sound. He glanced over at Kagome, who was still sleeping soundly. She had begun to drool on her math book. Resisting the urge to snort with laughter, he ruffled through the drawer for a moment, until his hand found the box. He pulled it out and looked at it closely. On the front of the box was a picture of a man and a woman. They were staring deep into each other's eyes and embracing. Above that was a little drawing of some kind of soldier wearing a strange helmet. Inuyasha frowned at the picture, thoroughly confused. 

"Mnnasha…" Kagome mumbled in her sleep, startling Inuyasha from his thoughts. It suddenly occurred to him that remaining in Kagome's bedroom could prove dangerous, both to his investigation and to his tailbone. With a glance over his shoulder at the sleeping girl, he grabbed the box and stuffed it into the front of his yukata. Then he silently crept past her to the open window and jumped out.

A few minutes later, on the other side of the well and far out of "Osuwari" range, Inuyasha sat high in the branches of the Goshimboku examining the mysterious box that had caused him so much back pain. It was dark now, but his golden youkai eyes were still sharp and clear enough to make out the smallest writing on the box in his hand. As for the box itself, it seemed harmless enough. It looked to be only made of thick paper, and it gave off no discernable smell… 

"What's the big deal?" he wondered aloud. Had this really been worth the aches he was going to feel tomorrow? And what about Kagome? Why had she been protecting it so…violently? Whatever dark secrets this innocent looking box held, it was time to discover them. He hooked a claw underneath what appeared to be an opening in the box's side and pried it open. He reached in and pulled out…??? Little white squares? They were all stuck together at the ends, and when he removed them from the box they unfolded like a paper fan. With a gentle tug, he separated one of the squares from the chain. He turned the square over and over in his hand, feeling it's weight and substance. It seemed similar to the material that protected some of the food that Kagome sometimes brought from her own era. He squeezed the center of the little packet, and felt something solid squish around inside. Hmmm… He brought the packet to his mouth and used a fang to tear it open. 

"Pah!" he spat. A bitter tasting liquid had run into his mouth. Whatever it was, it definitely was not food! When he had recovered from that nasty little experiment, he realized that he had dropped the little packet to the forest floor. _Oh well_, he though, shrugging as he plucked another square from the chain. There were plenty more where that came from. This time, he carefully tore at one of the corners with his claws. More of that foul smelling liquid ran onto his hands. Cursing, he wiped them on his pants. The small amount that he had tasted earlier was starting to make his mouth feel numb. He hoped it wasn't some sort of poison or acid… He shook his head and rejected the thought. He didn't think Kagome would keep poison, especially with her underwear. Carefully, he lifted out the contents of the package. It was a small, white circle, very thick around the edges, yet very thin in the middle. It was totally pliable, and could be bent and stretched in any direction. It seemed to be rolled onto itself, meaning…well, it looked like it would become longer and cylindrical, and all of it as thin as the small area in the center. Placing the circle between his thumbs, he tried unrolling the edges. The damn thing was slippery, however and it couldn't be done. Curiously, he extended his index finger to examine the circle, and his claw sliced right through the thin center. 

"Dammit!" he swore. "What the hell is the point of this thing?" He looked down at the now broken object. It looked a little bit like the things Kagome wore in her hair from time to time, but those had little metal clips holding them together, and they didn't smell all…mediciney. Plus, if these were the same as those hair-thingies, Kagome wouldn't have looked so embarrassed or gotten mad at him for looking at them. With a frustrated sigh, he looped his finger through the thing's remains and pulled it. It stretched a good deal before his fingers slipped on that weird goo and it shot off like a projectile, flying away into the darkness. Inuyasha watched it's flight, blinking in surprise, before shrugging his shoulders and returning his attention to the box. Now that the chain of little packets was in his lap and no longer in the box, he noticed a small folded piece of paper tucked in neatly at the bottom. Maybe that would explain things! He pulled the paper out of the box and slowly unfolded it. There were at least seven languages on the paper, and one of them appeared to be Japanese. He had to assume that they were all saying basically the same thing, because he knew Kagome only spoke Japanese and a tiny bit of something called "In-glitch". Now, If only someone had taught him how to read! He stared helplessly at the unfamiliar characters, desperately trying to understand, when some strange drawings at the bottom of the page caught his attention. He realized that he wouldn't need to read the paper after all. He looked at the pictures for a long time, until he could finally make sense of them. At first, his eyes widened with shock. Soon afterward they lowered in dismay. Inuyasha felt a pain knotting in his stomach that threatened to rise up to his eyes and mouth. He fought to contain it, pushing it down into a hot little ball that sat angrily in his belly. Fear, confusion, jealousy, betrayal, all clouded his mind as he stared down at the offending box. He crumpled the paper with the obscene pictures in his fist, his claws digging painfully into his palm and drawing blood. Then, with a ragged sigh, he opened his hand and let the crumpled ball fall to the forest floor. 


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

The morning that followed Kagome's fight with Inuyasha was warm and beautiful. Sunbeams came streaming in through Kagome's bedroom window and warmed her face as she slept. At 9:30, Mrs. Higurashi knocked lightly on her daughter's bedroom door. She had heard Kagome arguing with that Dog Boy last night, and she didn't want to disturb the sleeping demon had he decided to camp out on the floor. He had done so in the past, and she hadn't protested. She trusted her daughter, and trusted that Kagome could keep the young man in line, having once seen the effects of an "Osuwari". When no one responded to her knock, she opened the door as quietly as she could and peeked inside. There was no evidence of the young man in the room, but what she did see made her frown slightly.

"Kagome?" she called softly. The sleeping girl bolted upright from where she had fallen asleep at the desk. She looked up at her mother groggily, a pencil stuck to the side of her face. 

"Kagome," her mother began, her gentle voice edged with concern, "you didn't fall asleep at your desk again?" Kagome lowered her head, contritely. 

"I was studying, and I…" she trailed off with a sigh. Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her daughter, shaking her head. She reached down and gently removed the pencil from Kagome's cheek.

"Darling, I know that your schoolwork is important, but you shouldn't push yourself so hard. That test isn't until Monday, so you have a few more days to study. You need to pace yourself." Kagome stared blankly at her mother for a moment, then her face contorted into a mask of horror and confusion. 

"What do you mean by 'Monday,' Mama? Today's not…Friday?" Her mother frowned, more concerned than before. 

"Kagome, dear, yesterday was Friday. I fear you've lost track again."

"You mean to tell me that I studied all night…" Kagome's mouth fell open and her hand slapped her forehead. "Baka!" she moaned, her hand remaining on her forehead. "Mama! Why'd you have to go and wake me if it's Saturday? I could've slept some more!" 

"I thought that you and Youkai-sama might like some breakfast before you had to run off." Her mother replied casually, giving Kagome a tiny, knowing smile. 

"Inuyasha?" Kagome blinked at her mother, coloring slightly, then spun around in her chair. She gave the room a quick perusal before returning her gaze to her mother. "He's not here." she stated flatly.

"Well, in any case, why don't you get dressed and I'll make you something to eat. I'll even make something extra for your friend and you can bring it to him as a peace offering." her mother said, brightly. 

"You heard us fighting?" Kagome asked, a little embarrassed. 

"Kagome dear, it would've been difficult not to. Your friend is very…boisterous." The two women looked at each other for a moment, the burst out laughing. 

"That's one way of putting it, Mama." Kagome said with a happy sigh. Her mother smiled at her, then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. 

"It's good to see you laugh, Kagome. I'll be downstairs." Kagome watched as her mother turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. With a giant yawn, she stretched her arms high above her head. The stretching brought heavenly pain to her stiff neck and back as the kinks caused by the previous night were pulled out. She stood up, stretching her calf muscles, and headed for the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Kagome emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel wrapped around her body and another wrapped turban-style around her head. Her skin was pink from the hot water of the bath. Ever since she had begun traveling back to Inuyasha's time, hot water had become very precious to Kagome. The hotter the bath water, the better as far as she was concerned. Now she was warm and clean, and her muscles were no longer stiff from an awkward sleep. She hummed a happy little tune as she brushed the tangles from her clean, wet hair. She let the towel drop to the floor and let the sunbeams kiss her naked body. She danced over to the small stereo on her dresser and turned it on. Light, poppy music filled the room, and she danced. She twirled over to the full length mirror in the corner of her room and looked at herself. She was startled by how grown up she was becoming. Where only a year ago she'd been skinny and straight as a reed, the woman who looked back at her from the mirror was shapely and…beautiful. She smiled at the girl in the mirror, pleased by what she saw. She turned and looked over her shoulder to get a view of her back, and notice a small bruise on her left hip. _I must have gotten that yesterday when Inuyasha landed on top of me. _The thought sent a shiver through her body. He had been pressed so close to her, and at the time, she had been too angry to notice. _I really should apologize to him,_ she thought, _he had no way of knowing. _

"Besides," she said out loud, "I'm in too good a mood today to hold a grudge!" With a big grin on her face, she danced over to her dresser and opened her underwear drawer. The grin quickly disappeared. 

"Kagome! You're forgetting you pack!" her mother called after her, chasing the girl out the back door. 

"Forget it, he doesn't deserve it!" the girl called back angrily. Carried by her anger, Kagome ran into the well house, down the stairs, and leapt easily into the well. A moment later she was pulling herself out on the other side. 

"Kagome!" she heard a little voice cry as a ball of fur attached itself to her leg. 

"Not now Shippou!" she said absently, shaking off the confused kitsune. 

"But Kagome!" Shippou wailed, "I want to show you the weird snakeskin I found!" 

"Oh, alright." she said softening. After all, it wasn't fair to take out her anger on the poor kid. The kitsune visibly brightened at her sudden interest, and hopped into her arms. He excitedly held his treasure up for Kagome to see. 

"Look! I'm not sure what kind of snake has skin like this, though, it's so weird. It must be very rare!" Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at Shippou's 'snakeskin'. 

"Uh, Shippou-chan, where did you find this?" she asked, her voice raising a few octaves as she did so. 

"Near the Goshimboku!" he replied happily. "There's all kinds of other stuff there, too. Look at this!" He turned his head to show her his hair, which was being held back by a white rubber ring. "See? Just like yours, Kagome!"

"I-It's beautiful, Shippou-chan." she managed. "Now listen, I need to speak with Inuyasha. Have you seen him around?"

"He's in a weird mood today." Shippou said gravely, shaking his head and pointing towards the Goshimboku. 

"Thanks Shippou-chan!" Kagome called, running off in the direction of the tree. Shippou watched her go, then hopped off in the direction of Kaede-bachan's hut. Maybe she'd be interested in his findings…

Kagome arrived at the bottom of the Goshimboku to discover that what Shippou had said was indeed true. Littered all over the ground were wrappers, paper, and 'snakeskins', all in various stages of destroyed. She looked up into the branches of the tree. She didn't see Inuyasha, but…

"Osuwari." she said quietly. There was the sound of splintering branches and a long string of curses before the hanyou lay subjugated at her feet. 

"Rrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!" he screamed as he pulled his face out of the dirt. "You could've just called for me! YO, ARE YOU UP THERE? Something like that!"

"Inuyasha," she began, ignoring his outburst, "we have to have a serious talk." 

"I've got nothing to say to you, whore!" he growled, twisting the word in his mouth like a knife. 

"Listen," she said, grabbing his forelocks and pulling his nose up to meet hers, "if anyone has a right to be angry here, it's-" she released his hair with a gasp and he fell gracelessly onto his backside.

"W-what did you call me?" she asked in a tiny voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Kagome stood staring at Inuyasha in shock and dismay. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again as she tried to find her voice. When nothing would come, she raised her hand as if to touch him and took a step forward. 

"Just stay the hell away from me!" he roared, scooting away from her on his backside. It would have been funny if she hadn't been feeling so hurt. Undaunted, she took another step toward him, so he grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at her. Kagome shielded her eyes until the dust settled, then returned the favor by kicking dirt in his face. 

"What is wrong with you?" she finally asked. She was still advancing on him, so he reached back to grab another fistful of dirt. Instead, his hand landed on the cardboard box he'd dissected the night before. Once he realized what it was that he held, he leapt to his feet and shoved the crumpled box in the face of the startled girl. 

"I'm not stupid!" he growled, crushing the box between his fingers. "I figured out what these things are!" It was at that moment that it finally occurred to Kagome what Inuyasha was upset about. Suddenly, she felt very guilty and ashamed. Her eyes dropped contritely from his heated gaze to the ground as she tried to think of the best way to defend herself. A moment later, it occurred to her that she didn't have to. She had been taken aback by his tirade, but anger and indignation were helping her to recover quickly. She forced her gaze upwards to meet his eyes, and stood toe to toe with the angry demon. 

"S-so?!" she retorted. "I don't see why it's any of your business!" Inuyasha was astounded by the human girl's brazenness. He was livid, and felt as if his brain were about to explode out of his head. He turned on Kagome, bearing his teeth and claws at her.

"SLUT!" he screamed in her face. "WHORE! STUPID WHORE!" 

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE?!" she countered. 

"Who is it? Kouga?!" he roared. "That stupid Houjou guy?"

"What possible difference could it make to you what I do or who I do it with?" she cried, her voice beginning to break as tears welled up in her eyes. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently.

"Because you belong to _me_, Goddamn it!"

"OSUWARI!" she cried out. The second he was felled, she stood over his prone body and began to kick him in the solar plexus. 

"You son of a bitch! You lousy fleabag! Mongrel!" she screamed at him, each word emphasized by a hard, accurate kick. "How _dare_ you! I do everything-"

*UFF!*

"-you ask of me!"

*Ouch!*

"I've stayed by your nasty-"

*ughn!*

"-violent, side even though you're MEAN-"

*Hey!*

"-to me every chance you get!"

*but!*

"You've made it perfectly clear that you love KIKYO-"

*STOP!*

"-and not me." She backed away as the spell wore off, allowing him to struggle into a sitting position. He moaned and rubbed his side, giving her the evilest glare he could manage under the circumstances. 

"Bitch," he muttered, but he persisted. "Who is it?" 

"Why do you care?" she asked him again. When he didn't answer, she hazarded a guess. "Is it the shards? Look, I haven't run off with them yet, and I've had plenty of opportunities! Besides, I couldn't gather them alone, and even if I could, I wouldn't! Why can't you trust me?" 

"Words!" he snorted disdainfully. "If you're so devoted to… our cause, then why are you trying to sabotage it?" 

"Sabotage? Listen, even if there _was_ someone, and there _isn't_," she insisted, giving him a pointed look that she hoped would quiet the rumble emanating from his chest that had begun the moment she mentioned 'someone,' "Do you think that I'm such a flake that I would let them distract me from our mission here? Don't you get it? I-I _care_ about you, you selfish jerk! And if you're that concerned," she continued, her voice softening, "then I might as well tell you that my friend Eri made me buy those things on a dare. I was going to throw them away as soon as I had the chance!" At this news, some of the tension seemed to lift from Inuyasha's shoulders, but a scowl remained on his face.

"Feh!" he huffed, crossing his arms and raising his nose into the air. "Yeah, right! Why would she want you to get those things if there wasn't some guy?"

"Actually, there is." Kagome confessed. "She said that they were for my 'mystery man'." She smiled timidly at Inuyasha, her cheeks coloring slightly, her eyes sparkling hopefully. He didn't notice.

"Ha!" he barked, "See! I knew it!" The look on Kagome's face immediately transformed from misty-eyed longing to unbridled rage. 

"Baka! she screamed to the heavens. BAKA! BAKAAAAAAAAA!" The sound made Inuyasha flinch. He flattened his ears against his head and stumbled backward. 

"N-nani?" he stammered when she had finished. Kagome balled her hands into tight little fists that she kept rigidly by her sides and stomped her foot in the dirt, sending up a tiny cloud of dust. 

"That is it!" she cried, "I am going home! And I am never, ever coming back again!!!!" That said, she turned away from the incredulous hanyou and stormed off in the direction of the well. Inuyasha followed her in hot pursuit. 

"Hey! Wait a minute! Kagome!" he called after her.

"GO AWAY!" she yelled back. 

"But what about the shikon no tama?" he whined, almost pleading. 

"Stuff the shikon no tama!" she snarled. 

"You'll be back!" he cried frantically.

"No, I WON'T! Here!" She reached into her blouse and pulled out the small jar that contained the few shards of the shikon no tama that they had managed to collected together. She hurled it at him with all of her might. It bounced off his forehead and fell to the ground near his feet. Without missing a beat, he scooped up the jar and followed her retreating form. She had reached the well and was swinging one leg over the edge when he caught her arm. 

"What do you want?" she asked irritably, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. 

"Well, if you're going home for good, then take this ward off of me." he said, tugging at the prayer beads around his neck. She frowned at him.

"No."

"Cause you know you'll be back!" he said as if stating a fact.

"No." she said evenly. "Because I want you to suffer!" Before he had time to react, she swung her other leg over the side of the well and leapt in, disappearing into the darkness that awaited below. Inuyasha stood as if rooted to the ground for several minutes, peering into the murky depths of the well. Eventually, he let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding since she'd jumped with a loud "whoosh!" He then breathed in slowly through his nose, then out through his mouth again in a long sigh. 

"Shit." 

Five centuries later, Kagome sat quietly on the steps that lead up to her family's shrine house, trying not to cry. 

"Baka Inuyasha, baka…" she sniffled miserably, rubbing furiously at her eyes, trying to erase any evidence of tears from them. "What a jerk!" she moaned. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. _'I should've thrown those things out right away…' _she thought to herself. _'He's right, in a way. It was suspicious. So why did I hold on to them? What was I hoping for?' _Kagome was suddenly roused from her melancholy reverie by a tiny, cold nose poking at her elbow. She looked to her side and noticed that her fat cat, Buyo, was sitting placidly beside her. 

"Hi boy." she sniffed. "How did you find me?"

"Mrrrow." Buyo answered, staring at her intently and waving his tail languidly side to side. Grateful for the momentary distraction, Kagome scratched near the base of his tail. The cat arched his back in sheer bliss, purring madly. 

"At least you love me…" Kagome said softly as Buyo crawled into her lap. Her fingers traced absently up his spine to the tip of his tail, then back to his head and up to the tips of his ears. She stroked the fine hairs that adorned the entrance to one of his ears, causing them to twitch and flick in mild annoyance. 

"Sorry." she whispered. "You think I'd know by now not to touch those." A bird chirped somewhere off in the distance, and the cat's ear pivoted, trying to find where the sound was coming from. That tiny, insignificant movement was painfully familiar to Kagome, causing her to think of someone that she would rather have forgotten at that moment. 

"Beat it." she sighed, suddenly annoyed, and tossed the cat off her lap. Her bottom was starting to go numb from sitting on the concrete for too long. She was tired and drained, and more than anything else, she wanted to go home. Standing up, she smoothed her skirt and began the long, slow climb up the steps. 

"Kagome!" her mother exclaimed as she walked in the front door.

"I wasn't expecting you home for a few days." 

"I decided to take some time off." Kagome said as she stood in the hallway, slipping out of her shoes. 

"I see." her mother stated, trying to sound cheerful, as if she hadn't noticed Kagome's puffy eyes and morose tone of voice. "And your friend, he doesn't mind?"

"Honestly, Mama, no. I don't think he minds at all." Kagome said flatly. She sat down in the living room and turned on the television. She wanted to squash her unhappiness with the loud, garish, images on the TV screen. She was tired of thinking. 

"Well, you must be hungry." her mother said, raising her voice over the noise of the television. "I'll make you some lunch."

"kay." Kagome mumble absently, wide eyes fixed to the bright screen. When he mother brought her lunch, she dutifully ate it. When she had to go to the bathroom, she got up and went. Other than that, she didn't move from her spot in the living room for the remainder of the day. Finally, as night began to fall, Kagome's mother walked over to the television and shut it off. There was a tiny 'snap! hisssssss' noise as the overworked set shut down. 

"Alright Kagome," her mother said softly, "I think that's enough. Why don't you get ready for bed?" Kagome nodded, rubbing her eyes as they readjusted to the world around her. Her mother gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead, then sent her on her way. She climbed the stairs up to her bedroom, closed the door gently and quietly behind her, then flopped down face first upon the bed. 

"Won't this day ever end?" she moaned. Within minutes, she was asleep. Her mother came in a little later and turned out the light. Kagome didn't notice. In fact, she didn't notice when her bedroom window slid open, either. She never saw the dark figure sneak into her room like a thief in the night, or the bright pair of eyes that hung like two golden lanterns over her sleeping body. She didn't hear as he rummaged through her drawers, and she didn't feel the comforter when it was pulled up to her chin. When the window slid closed again, all she did was roll over in her sleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Inuyasha slipped silent and unseen through the night, following the scents of his friends. He had gone to Kagome's house to try to find some evidence of who this 'mystery man' was, so that he could find the guy and kill him. He had found something that had raised his suspicions hidden in the same drawer where he had found those hateful 'things', but before he could know for sure, he needed Miroku's help. As he passed into a dense patch of forest, the scent grew stronger, and soon he could hear the voices of his friends. They had settled for the evening in a small clearing, using the surrounding brush to conceal their whereabouts from youkai and other nightly predators. Inuyasha emerged from the inky darkness that surrounded the tiny campsite where the houshi, the kitsune and the demon slayer sat chatting around a small, smokeless fire.

"Oy! Miroku!" he said gruffly, interrupting their conversation. The companions started at the sound of his voice. Sango reached for her katana, while Miroku pulled at the rosary on his right hand. Shippou hid behind Miroku. Only Kirara, who had smelled him coming, was unaffected. She remained asleep, curled up in Sango's lap.

"Inuyasha? You startled us!" Sango exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest to steady her racing heartbeat. Shippou popped out of hiding and climbed onto Miroku's shoulder to glare menacingly at Inuyasha.

"You're back." Miroku said simply.

"I need to talk to you…alone!" he said, giving the kitsune a meaningful glance. 

"I wouldn't talk to that asshole, Miroku!" Shippou said, bristling at the dog demon. "He made Kagome leave again!" 

"Hey Shippou, when he wants your opinion, he'll ask for it!" Inuyasha barked. He aimed a blow at the kitsune's head, but missed as Shippou leapt off of Miroku's shoulder. 

"Whatever!" Shippou snorted, hopping away. Without checking to see if Miroku was following, Inuyasha stormed off into the forest. Miroku hastily excused himself from the others and followed him. 

"What did you want to see me about, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked when they were far enough from the campsite to speak privately. Inuyasha pulled a small piece of paper from out the folds of his yukata and handed it to the monk. 

"What does this say?" Inuyasha demanded, avoiding eye-contact with the houshi. He found it humiliating that he had to reveal to Miroku his inability to read. He didn't like exposing his weaknesses, especially to another male. Miroku said nothing on the matter, but quickly gave the paper a once-over. When he was finished, he looked back at Inuyasha with a strange expression on his face.

"Where did you get this, Inuyasha?" he asked, puzzled.

"What difference does it make?" Inuyasha said evasively, becoming more agitated by the second. "Can you read it or not?"

"Of course I can read it." Miroku said calmly, "but I don't believe that I should read it to you unless I know whether or not it was meant for you."

"I, uh, got it from Kagome." he said, uncomfortably. It wasn't really a lie. He _had_ found it in her room.

"Oh, I see." Miroku said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Well, in that case, I'll read it to you. It says- " He cleared his throat, and in a very solemn manner, he began to read. "Dearest Inuyasha, I know that we fight all of the time, but I can no longer hide my true feelings. The reason that I get so flustered around you is that I am secretly in love with you. I am waiting for you to come to me and admit your love as well, but I am very shy, so I may act surprised when you come for me. I may even pretend that I never wrote to you, but rest assured, my love, that it is all an act, for I cannot live without you. With all my love, Kagome." Inuyasha eyed the monk suspiciously.

"It says all that, huh? That seems awfully long for a scrap of paper."

"Are you accusing me, a follower of Buddha, of lying?" Miroku asked, a grave expression on his face.

"Don't act so shocked!" Inuyasha hollered at him.

"Don't lie to him, Miroku!" Shippou said, suddenly re-appearing on the houshi's shoulder, "It really says 'Hey Inuyasha! I hate you! Don't you ever bother me again, unless it's to bring me back so that I can see cute little Shippou and bring him all the treats that I used to bring to you. Don't forget to remind me to bring him those treats when you come to get me, 'cause sometimes I'm very forgetful. I might even forget that I wrote this note. Sincerely, Kagome.' That's what it really says."

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Inuyasha screamed, lunging at the kitsune.

"How would you know, baka?!" Shippou screamed back as he leapt out of harm's way. "You can't read it! Boy, are you stupid! I'm a little kid and even I know how to do that!"

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha cried hotly, bearing his fangs at the kit. "It's not my fault that no one ever taught me!"

"Inuyasha!" Miroku scolded, bringing his staff down upon Inuyasha's head. "Leave Shippou alone. You don't have time for games. You need to do something about this letter right away."

"Oh, I'll do something alright," Inuyasha grumbled, rubbing his head. He grabbed the slip of paper from Miroku's hand, then, turning back toward the camp, he called out "Sango!" 

"I'm not getting involved!" the demon slayer called back.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha yelled, breaking through the foliage back into the camp. "I'm always helping you out!" 

"Fine." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "What is it?"

"All I want to know is what this stupid thing really says!" he griped.

"Is that all?" Sango asked, turning to Miroku and giving him a disgusted look. "Why are you tormenting him? I was just beginning to relax before you three started making such a racket!" 

"Me?" Miroku asked innocently. He came forward and took her hand in his own. "Sango, I am a monk. I am only looking out for his best interests."

"And I am only looking out for your other hand!" she cried as his fingers grazed her bottom. She pushed away from him, then slapped him across the face with a loud, resounding 'SMACK!!!'.

"It can't be helped," Miroku sighed, touching his face where she had slapped him, a perfect image of her hand appearing in an angry red upon his cheek, "don't forget, this hand is cursed…" 

"Hey, you two!" Inuyasha yelled at them, "Could you work out your personal problems later?"

"Gomen, Inuyasha." Sango apologized. "Let me see that." Inuyasha thrust the letter into her hand. "Hmm." she said after a moment. "This couldn't have been written to you."

"Ok! Fine, it wasn't!" he confessed. "Could you please just read it anyway?!"

"Alright!" she said, testily. "I don't see what all the fuss is about. All it says is 'You bought and paid for these, so you should keep them. Maybe they'll fit your Mystery man. Be sure to let me know! Love, Eri.' Whoever that is." Sango said with a shrug. 

"That's one of Kagome's friends from her time!" Shippou exclaimed excitedly. "She told me all about it. There's Yuka, and Ayumi - she's the smart one - and there's Eri! Kagome says they're always trying to get her to go on dates with some guy named Houjou." 

"What's a date?" Miroku asked, suddenly very interested.

"It's what they call courtship in Kagome's time. Kagome says she doesn't really like Houjou, though. He's too weird and boring. She told me once that instead courting her with flowers, he brought her dried lizards."

"Kagome does not share the young man's affection then?" Sango asked. She felt a little uncomfortable gossiping about Kagome's private life, but she found the story too fascinating to ignore. 

"Nope." Shippou said absolutely, shaking his head. "But her friends don't believe it, 'cause they think that Houjou is 'gorgeous'!" at the word 'gorgeous', he raised his voice into a high falsetto, in an uncanny imitation of a teenage girl. "So when Kagome tells them that she's not interested in him, they accuse her of having a secret boyfriend."

"How do you know all this?" Inuyasha asked accusingly.

"Baka! I listen when Kagome talks to me! That's why she talks to me!" Shippou puffed out his chest, proud to be the knowledgeable one for once.

"So, we can assume that this letter was sent to Kagome from her friend." Sango replied.

"Yes, and it was sent along with a gift for Kagome's secret boyfriend. See, here it says 'Maybe they'll fit your mystery man.' I wonder what 'they' are, and if they fit him or not?" Miroku pondered, giving Inuyasha a sideways glance. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. 

"But Kagome doesn't have a 'mystery man'!" Shippou protested. 

"No?" Miroku asked, raising an eyebrow. "There's no man in Kagome's life that her friends might find…mysterious?"

"There's Inu-" Sango began, before Inuyasha cut her off.

"Keh! This is stupid and pointless! Give me that, Sango." Sango handed the scrap of paper back to him, and he tossed it into the fire. They watched it curl up and turn to cinders within seconds. As for Inuyasha, he had suddenly become very sullen and quiet.

"So. Inuyasha." Miroku said, breaking the silence. "Have you learned what you needed to know?" Inuyasha nodded his head absently. He reached into his robes and pulled out the small jar containing the shikon shards that Kagome had thrown at him. He stared at the tiny bottle, holding it up to the light of the fire and twisting it back and forth, watching the shards twinkle as they caught the light, mesmerized. 

"Now what?" he sighed.

"Now?!" Shippou yelled at him, "Now you go apologize to Kagome!"

"Huh? Who said anything about Kagome!" Inuyasha asked, getting angry. 

"He's right." Miroku said. "I don't know what happened between you two, but until you apologize to Kagome-sama, we won't be able to continue our search."

"I agree." Sango said, nodding. 

"How about you?" Inuyasha asked, looking at Kirara. "You got an opinion too?" The cat demon just stared at him. "No? Well, here's my opinion. I think that you guys need to mind your own damn business!" And just like that, he vanished into the trees. 

"Moron." Sango said.

"Asshole." Shippou agreed.

"I give it two more days." Miroku said, smiling. 


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

Gray clouds hung low in the sky on Monday afternoon as Kagome walked home from school. Her first day back hadn't been as difficult as she had imagined it would be. She had been too distracted by math equations to think about much else. She was even fairly certain that she passed her Algebra test, amazingly enough. Eri, Yuka and Ayumi had wanted to go to Wacdnald's after school to celebrate, but Kagome hadn't felt up to it. Deep down, she felt as dismal as the weather. As she climbed the long row of stairs that lead to the shrine house, she heard the sound of thunder off in the distance. She found herself wondering if it was raining in the sengoku jidai. The rumble of thunder was closely followed by a flash of heat lightning, but the storm was still several miles way. Seeing the lightning reminded her, as it always did, of her encounter with Hiten and Manten, the lightning beasts. She had told them that she was Inuyasha's lover. Granted, she had done it so that they wouldn't skin her alive, but still…it hadn't been an altogether unpleasant thought. And when he had come to rescue her, she had almost believed it herself. That is, until Hiten had called her Inuyasha's beloved woman. After Inuyasha had denied it up and down, and had even gone as far as to say that she wasn't worth trading the tiniest jewel shard for, those happy little delusions had been pretty much trampled. Then there was the whole Kikyo debacle…

Kagome screeched her wandering mind to a halt. _'You said that you weren't going to think about him anymore!'_ she scolded herself. But just as she was thinking that, she found herself standing in front of the Goshimboku. She stared at the large scar in the bark of the ancient tree, where Inuyasha had been trapped for half a century before she had released him from his spell. _'Just like sleeping beauty…' _she thought, '_if sleeping beauty had been raised by barbarians._ _But sleeping beauty fell in love with the prince who saved her…why do I keep doing this to myself?'_ She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the tree. When she opened them, she realized that she was now looking at the old well house.

"Gah!" she cried, closing her eyes again. _'It's not fair!'_ she thought frantically. _'How can I forget about him, when I see evidence of him everywhere I go?!' _

"Enough!" she cried, chastising herself out loud. "I'm going into the house!" At that moment, she felt a drop of rain hit her on the nose. She reached her hand out, palm up, to feel for rain, when something solid landed in her outstretched hand. She blinked in surprise. It was the little jar of shikon shards. Her heart beginning to thump loudly in her chest, Kagome slowly directed her gaze upward, into the branches of the Goshimboku. There was nothing there. Puzzled, she turned to head back to the shrine before the rain began to come down in earnest, when she ran smack into a very familiar chest. 

"Inuyasha?" she asked, looking up into his face. 

"Kagome…" he said, looking down at her sheepishly. They stared wordlessly at each other for what seemed like an eternity, before Kagome broke the spell. 

"Why are you here?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be out looking for shards?" She thought that she saw a pained expression cross his face, but it was gone so quickly that she might have imagined it. He stared at her intently for a few more moments, as if summoning his will to speak, when suddenly and unexpectedly, the sky opened up and a deluge fell on their heads. 

"Great," Kagome said, water sputtering from her lips as she talked. "That's just great, really. Well, thanks for stopping by, but I have to go in now before I float away. I'd invite you to come in, but the smell of wet dog really bothers me, so sayounara, Inuyasha." Kagome said, turning toward the shrine house. He caught her by the arm as she tried to pass, and pulled her to his body in an embrace.

"I was afraid." He began.

"Inuyasha, the last time this happened you stole the shikon shards from me and pushed me down the well." she said, half-heartedly trying to push away from him. It wasn't an easy task for her. She had missed him so badly, and he didn't smell like a wet dog at all. In fact, he smelled like a forest after the rain; fresh, earthy and wonderful. It was so hard to pull away when all she wanted to do was breathe him in.

"Would you just be quiet for a second?" he said a little gruffly, holding her still against him. "It isn't easy for me to admit when I've been wrong!"

"Is that what you're doing?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. 

"I would if you'd let me!" he said, holding her at an arms length, a scowl on his face. "Gods you're difficult, woman!"

"Hey! Some apology this is turning out to be!" she said, getting an edge to her voice.

"Alright, alright, knock it off! I didn't come out here to stand in the pouring rain and argue with you." he shouted over the growing din of the rain. Kagome looked up at her friend. The normally fierce and frightening Inuyasha was in a sad state. The rain had plastered his hair to his face, which was making his ears look huge and droopy. He looked absolutely pathetic, and it was all she could do not to laugh at him. 

"Ok." she said, "I guess you've suffered enough." She hadn't exactly gotten an apology, but he'd come close, and she was willing to compromise. 

"C'mon." she said, taking his hand, "Lets go inside. Just promise me that you won't get down on all fours and shake the water off," she joked. "you'll get my room all wet!" He gave her a puzzled look.

"How else do you expect me to dry off?" 

Kagome brought him in the back door and up the stairs to her room, grabbing a couple of towels as they passed the bathroom. She made him stand in the hallway as she quickly changed into a warm, dry pair of gray and pink sweats, then wrapped a towel around her head and let him in. 

"You'd better take your coat off." she observed as he entered the room. "It's soaked through. You'll catch a cold."

"Feh. Like I'm that- *achoo!*" he sneezed.

"See?" she said. She pushed him down into a stitting position on the floor and began to rub his long, thick silver hair dry with a towel. 

"Someone's just talking shit about me, that's all!" he said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Probably Shippou…"

"Well, whatever the reason, your coat's dripping all over my rug, so please take it off!"

"Fine." he grumbled, loosening the ties around his waist. As the coat came off, something tiny fell out of it and landed on next to Kagome's foot. Before he could stop her, she bent down and picked it up. It was a full second before she realized that it was an unopened condom. 

"I-Inuyasha," she began nervously, "I'm confused. Why did you keep this?"

"Uh… I don't know, really, I just…wanted to." He was glad that his back was to her, hiding the fact that he was blushing furiously. 

"I, uh, wouldn't think you'd need such things, living in the sengoku jidai, and being a demon and all…" she stammered, trying to avoid an uncomfortable silence, but really only making things worse. 

"Oh. No, I guess not." he said uncertainly, then added quickly "Besides, they wouldn't work anyway." Kagome's jaw almost hit the ground, but she tried her best to sound natural and unaffected when she spoke to him again. 

"Inuyasha, you didn't try to put… I mean,… you didn't…?" was all she managed.

"What? No! I mean, well, maybe I tried to, but like I said, it didn't work." he said defensively.

"Um. I see…." she said small voice, closing her eyes tightly. The next part just slipped out. 

"How come?" Inuyasha mumbled something incoherent.

"What?" she insisted. It was too late to turn back now. He still mumbled, but he was louder the second time. 

"They didn't fit me. They were too small."

*Author's Note: There is a lemon (NC-17) ending to this story, which can be found at Mediaminer.org under the name of Nanda, at "The Church of Lemons," or at "Iridescent Dreams." Links to all of these can be found at www.ieasysite.com/instantnoodles 


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